Best guitar for my range??

stylo17 · March 2008

so i've been looking to getting a guitar lately, and since i've never been in the market for a guitar (i play the bass tho) i was wondering what was the best i could probably get for something around $600. I recently played a Fender Tele (i think American Deluxe??) and it was great, but i think it's about double my range. i've also looked into a Strat. Does anyone recommend the "Standard" Strat or is it worth to go a little higher for a better quality instrument??

xtremehardy388 · March 2008

stylo17 wrote:

so i've been looking to getting a guitar lately, and since i've never been in the market for a guitar (i play the bass tho) i was wondering what was the best i could probably get for something around $600. I recently played a Fender Tele (i think American Deluxe??) and it was great, but i think it's about double my range. i've also looked into a Strat. Does anyone recommend the "Standard" Strat or is it worth to go a little higher for a better quality instrument??

Standards are nice but it's all up to you and how you like the feel.

stylo17 · March 2008

xtremehardy388 wrote:

Standards are nice but it's all up to you and how you like the feel.

very true, and i haven't tried one yet but i will. is it worth spending more on a "Deluxe" or one of those if the feel is the same?

Hebejebe · March 2008

stylo17 wrote:

so i've been looking to getting a guitar lately, and since i've never been in the market for a guitar (i play the bass tho) i was wondering what was the best i could probably get for something around $600. I recently played a Fender Tele (i think American Deluxe??) and it was great, but i think it's about double my range. i've also looked into a Strat. Does anyone recommend the "Standard" Strat or is it worth to go a little higher for a better quality instrument??

If you are looking for a Fender then you could consider a Japanese one. The build quality in Japanese Strats/Teles are fantastic. You could always later if you wanted change the pickups. Not sure how much it costs in the States to get hold of one though.

xtremehardy388 · March 2008

stylo17 wrote:

very true, and i haven't tried one yet but i will. is it worth spending more on a "Deluxe" or one of those if the feel is the same?

I never noticed a huge difference but I gotta agree with hebeje and say that MIJ ones are pretty nice as well

IDgotI · March 2008

In my personal opinion a guitar isn't like a car where you can just check out reliability and safety ratings and know the one that is best for you. It's more like choosing a faithful hound. It doesn't matter pedigree or price tag, pure bred or mangey mutt, when the chemistry between the two of you is right, you'll have a new best friend.

The basic things to figure out are what type of pickup sound you like, humbucker or single coil... after that just try playing a lot of instruments. Fender and Gibson are just brand names. There have been great Fender and Gibson guitars, and there have been so so ones. In your price range you might get an amazing schechter, or Ibanez, or Fernandes... or a great Fender or Gibson. Don't be afraid to look at used instruments... (just make sure the frets are in decent shape). The only real "golden rule"... *play* a guitar before you buy it... and buy the *exact* guitar you deicide you want. Again, who spots a dog, plays with it, and then asks for "another model like this one". Well, maybe some people do... but they are probably looking for decorations and not to play.

Pacomc79 · March 2008

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/navigation/solid-body-electric-guitars?N=100001+306241+11

check out some of the product descriptions here and maybe sweetwater or so.

Also check out Reverend guitars, they make some outstanding stuff in that price range.

http://www.reverendguitars.com/index.html

stylo17 · March 2008

thanks everyone. thats some good stuff, i appreciate it.

Novawind · March 2008

I would highly suggest going to a few different guitar shops and trying more than one standard strat. They're kind of like clothes- you just have to find the right fit. I got lucky with mine, since I got it off eBay there was a chance that it would have been low-quality. For what I paid for it I really couldn't be much happier. Some people aren't so lucky. Try before you buy.

As far as the standard vs. deluxe players etc., get a standard. If you really want to later, you can upgrade pickups, change the pickguard or do whatever, and that way you can do it if you want to (and probably for less than what a deluxe model might cost you).

ianvomsaal · March 2008

You should also consider what style of music you want to play, and remember that Humbuckers and Single-Coil pickups are completely different animals.
This is a great guitar for $479, and has a tone of great features Hamer Sunburst Archtop Quilt. Arched Quilted Top, Mahogany body, Rosewood
Fingerboard, Set Mahogany Neck, Humbuckers, Abalone inlays surrounding entire guitar, Mother-of-Pearl crown inlays, Tune-O-Matic bridge, Double Cutaway.

- Ian

mccreadyisgod · March 2008

Just to throw my 2 cents in here...

The best guitar for you isn't necessarily the best guitar in any of our minds. The best guitar for me might be a Strat or Tele, or a Les Paul or a Danelectro or something entirely different, so getting me to recommend something for you is near impossible. In the price range you've got, I'd be looking at either an Epiphone Les Paul or a Fender Strat HSS.

In fact, the Fender Strat HSS is one of my favorite budget recommendations for a first guitar. It's got a lot of versatility in the sound because of the classic Fender single-coil pickups combined with a bridge humbucker, and it's the kind of guitar that is instantly recognizable, fairly universal, and generally has good build quality and reliability.

I'm a big fan of the Mexican-made Fender guitars, and my current Strat is a Made-in-Mexico Squier-series Strat from the 80's. They're great guitars. I'd avoid the Korean and Chinese guitars, including the newer Squiers. I'm not as familiar with the MIJ stuff. But, since quality control is becoming a lost art, be sure to play a few of them to see which one has that "mojo"... you can play 10 strats in a row, all of them the same exact model, and 1 or 2 will be good, 5 or 6 will be average, and the rest will be crap. In fact, you can play a Squier, a MIM standard, a US standard, and a US deluxe, and the most expensive one may not be the nicest.

If you have a couple or three models that you kind of like, and want some feedback on the differences, trade-offs, etc., then we'll all be able to help out a lot more. But let your ears and hands be the ultimate judge.

DiRtyFranK38 · March 2008

fender nashville tele .. all the way

edpearson · March 2008

Don't forget to check out the Fender Highway One series. They're made in America and pretty decent. Regarding the MIJ Strats, I have one I bought in the mid-80's and it's still one of my main axes. Check out your local Craigslist.org for some deals. The deluxe series Strats and Teles are fantastic guitars, but they're pricey. I did find an '06 cherryburst deluxe Tele on Craigslist for $850 about a year ago. The thing still had the stickers on the pickguard! Saved about $400 by going that route. Good luck!

Anon · March 2008

mccreadyisgod wrote:

Just to throw my 2 cents in here...

The best guitar for you isn't necessarily the best guitar in any of our minds. The best guitar for me might be a Strat or Tele, or a Les Paul or a Danelectro or something entirely different, so getting me to recommend something for you is near impossible. In the price range you've got, I'd be looking at either an Epiphone Les Paul or a Fender Strat HSS.

In fact, the Fender Strat HSS is one of my favorite budget recommendations for a first guitar. It's got a lot of versatility in the sound because of the classic Fender single-coil pickups combined with a bridge humbucker, and it's the kind of guitar that is instantly recognizable, fairly universal, and generally has good build quality and reliability.

I'm a big fan of the Mexican-made Fender guitars, and my current Strat is a Made-in-Mexico Squier-series Strat from the 80's. They're great guitars. I'd avoid the Korean and Chinese guitars, including the newer Squiers. I'm not as familiar with the MIJ stuff. But, since quality control is becoming a lost art, be sure to play a few of them to see which one has that "mojo"... you can play 10 strats in a row, all of them the same exact model, and 1 or 2 will be good, 5 or 6 will be average, and the rest will be crap. In fact, you can play a Squier, a MIM standard, a US standard, and a US deluxe, and the most expensive one may not be the nicest.

If you have a couple or three models that you kind of like, and want some feedback on the differences, trade-offs, etc., then we'll all be able to help out a lot more. But let your ears and hands be the ultimate judge.

+1
word. this is great advice.

seanw1010 · March 2008

i bought an american standard strat a few months ago. i originaly wanted to buy an american deluxe, or a vintage hot rod. but i played a really nice standard, and i liked it better than the either 2. however, most of the standards ive played i havnt been completely satisfied with. play around, you could get lucky

lucylespian · March 2008

IDgotI wrote:

In my personal opinion a guitar isn't like a car where you can just check out reliability and safety ratings and know the one that is best for you. It's more like choosing a faithful hound. It doesn't matter pedigree or price tag, pure bred or mangey mutt, when the chemistry between the two of you is right, you'll have a new best friend.

The basic things to figure out are what type of pickup sound you like, humbucker or single coil... after that just try playing a lot of instruments. Fender and Gibson are just brand names. There have been great Fender and Gibson guitars, and there have been so so ones. In your price range you might get an amazing schechter, or Ibanez, or Fernandes... or a great Fender or Gibson. Don't be afraid to look at used instruments... (just make sure the frets are in decent shape). The only real "golden rule"... *play* a guitar before you buy it... and buy the *exact* guitar you deicide you want. Again, who spots a dog, plays with it, and then asks for "another model like this one". Well, maybe some people do... but they are probably looking for decorations and not to play.

This is very good advice. Think outside the box in this price range. An Asian or Baja made guitar will be at least as good, and usually better in this price range. I would put my ESP ltd Viper 601 up against anything for fit and finish, Made in Korea !!!
Mind you, I saw Gibson SG faded cherry for $600 at GC recently, which would be hard to beat, seriously good value.

Pacomc79 · March 2008

lucylespian wrote:

This is very good advice. Think outside the box in this price range. An Asian or Baja made guitar will be at least as good, and usually better in this price range. I would put my ESP ltd Viper 601 up against anything for fit and finish, Made in Korea !!!
Mind you, I saw Gibson SG faded cherry for $600 at GC recently, which would be hard to beat, seriously good value.

Yeah I've been pleased with ESP lately too. I think they are also the ones that build the Edwards stuff.

What do you think of Schecters Korean offerings? The fretboards are not my deal I prefer a thicker rounded back and more rounded board but damn, for the money... They give you a hell of a lot of bang for the buck. Tone Pros bridges, great pickups... etc. same with ESP.

Colors of Musid · March 2008

Wood is the base of most guitars. Wood takes about 25 years to have all the resins harden. This hardened resin makes the guitar stable and improves the tone. I have heard that most of the big makers age the wood, then work it, which is good but can break that resin mesh which will not be repaired.

This advice may led you to look more seriously at used instruments. $600 could get you a real jem used. Try craigslist.org, to also get to know local players, or the used section of your music store.

Get to know the instrument before you buy. How you like the tone and features is what is important not how impressive the brand is.

Finding the right fit will keep you happy and the quest will teach you a lot.

blackredyellow · March 2008

Go to a couple of big stores and play as many quitars as you can in your price range.

I haven't bought a guitar for a few years, but I went looking for and Epi Les Paul that I was dead-set on, and after playing a bunch of guitars, I came home with a Schecter C1+ (http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Schecter-C1-Plus-Electric-Guitar?sku=513010)

It had the best feel and sound of all of the guitars I tried out.

Snake · March 2008

If I were in your price range I'd save up a couple more and buy a Fender Mustang http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Fender-65-Mustang-Reissue?sku=512763

Just a little over $600

That guitar will be mine... Oh yes it will be mine!

lucylespian · March 2008

Pacomc79 wrote:

Yeah I've been pleased with ESP lately too. I think they are also the ones that build the Edwards stuff.

What do you think of Schecters Korean offerings? The fretboards are not my deal I prefer a thicker rounded back and more rounded board but damn, for the money... They give you a hell of a lot of bang for the buck. Tone Pros bridges, great pickups... etc. same with ESP.

Yeah, ESP do the Edwards LP that put the real deal to shame.
The ltd modles range from cheap stuff to professional style gear like my Viper. All the ESP JApan stuff is superb build. Korea is very much now where Japan was 20 yr ago in terms of industrial development etc.
The Schecter stuff is pretty good. The young guy I teach got a Schecter Demon 6, cos it was the best value available. Humbuckers, 24 fret, nice neck, good tuners, nice upper fret access, and coolc satin black. I know it won't be made from the best tone wood in the world, but that is a much lower consideration for a first guitar. Stable tuning and playability are paramount for a first guitar.

Pacomc79 · March 2008

lucylespian wrote:

Yeah, ESP do the Edwards LP that put the real deal to shame.
The ltd modles range from cheap stuff to professional style gear like my Viper. All the ESP JApan stuff is superb build. Korea is very much now where Japan was 20 yr ago in terms of industrial development etc.
The Schecter stuff is pretty good. The young guy I teach got a Schecter Demon 6, cos it was the best value available. Humbuckers, 24 fret, nice neck, good tuners, nice upper fret access, and coolc satin black. I know it won't be made from the best tone wood in the world, but that is a much lower consideration for a first guitar. Stable tuning and playability are paramount for a first guitar.

Yeah, Vipers I think go for a shade less than 660 US here and already have EMG 81/85's installed. The ESP LP's come with either the 81/85 combo or if you get the sunburst I think it's got Seymour Duncan's in it so if active is not your thing they have you covered. Nice to buy a guitar with the common upgrades already done under a grand. Schecter even has a great semi hollowbody with some inpiration from the PRS Hollowbody 2's complete with acoustic bridge and everything for $700. It's no hollowbody 2 but damn it's 700 bucks.

That's what started my angst with some of Gibson/Fender/Kaman Music practices. Samick in Korea is building almost everyones korean stuff, if schecter spends a couple dollars extra on tone pros hardware good tuners and pro setups back in the US to ensure quality... why can't Fender and Gibson? They can easily, it's just not necessary for their bottom line because they can sell the name on the headstock. The same thing swayed me away from Marshall originally too.

I sold a lot of first time acoustic buyers Mitchells because they came with grovers and they held their tune well.

lucylespian · March 2008

Pacomc79 wrote:

Yeah, Vipers I think go for a shade less than 660 US here and already have EMG 81/85's installed. The ESP LP's come with either the 81/85 combo or if you get the sunburst I think it's got Seymour Duncan's in it so if active is not your thing they have you covered. Nice to buy a guitar with the common upgrades already done under a grand. Schecter even has a great semi hollowbody with some inpiration from the PRS Hollowbody 2's complete with acoustic bridge and everything for $700. It's no hollowbody 2 but damn it's 700 bucks.

That's what started my angst with some of Gibson/Fender/Kaman Music practices. Samick in Korea is building almost everyones korean stuff, if schecter spends a couple dollars extra on tone pros hardware good tuners and pro setups back in the US to ensure quality... why can't Fender and Gibson? They can easily, it's just not necessary for their bottom line because they can sell the name on the headstock. The same thing swayed me away from Marshall originally too.

I sold a lot of first time acoustic buyers Mitchells because they came with grovers and they held their tune well.

Actually, I think they do the set-ups in the USA to convince the market of the guitars quality, not because Korea can't do it right.
Korea is leading the world in building supertankers, so I think they could probably build a guitar OK.
Guitars are so cheap for you guys anyway, and in a lot of ways Gibson/Fender etc are driven more by teh essential overwhelming conservatism of the guitar market than anything. Whenever they try something new, they get howled down and it never sells. People just want more of the same old, same old.
What I want as a standard on every guitar is locking tuners.

IDgotI · March 2008

lucylespian wrote:

What I want as a standard on every guitar is locking tuners.

+1

Heck, I'd just settle for decent quality tuners. It's amazing how crap the tuners can be even on the low to mid instruments, even guitars that are otherwise tremendous. Ok.. ok... they are easy enough to replace... but it's such a pet peeve of mine. I actually have one of the Hamer Sunburst Archtop Quilt guitars Ian mentioned and I can +1 that too. It's an incredible guitar. Made to the exact spec of the amazing Hamer studio guitars. I swapped the pickups on mine for EMG and it's just wonderful. I have to get off my arse and change the bloody tuners however... I can't believe I haven't done it yet. They are horrendous. Ok... pet peeve venting done.

IDgotI · March 2008

ianvomsaal wrote:

You should also consider what style of music you want to play, and remember that Humbuckers and Single-Coil pickups are completely different animals.
This is a great guitar for $479, and has a tone of great features Hamer Sunburst Archtop Quilt. Arched Quilted Top, Mahogany body, Rosewood
Fingerboard, Set Mahogany Neck, Humbuckers, Abalone inlays surrounding entire guitar, Mother-of-Pearl crown inlays, Tune-O-Matic bridge, Double Cutaway.

- Ian

+1

Absolutely true. An amazing amazing guitar for the money. Of course again the trick is to get a guitar that suits your individual tastes (and hands!) but this is one that should definately be tried in your price range. If it floats your boat is an absolute steal.

vinceinhiding · March 2008

if you are serious about your playing, then you might think about digging on craigslist for a used american made guitar (strat or tele). A mid 90's model will probably go for slightly more than $600. I personally play a gibson les paul studio, which I know you can find for under 1k used. Buy used, save money, get a good tube amp afterwards.

PaulBrown · March 2008

The best you can do is what you've already been told. Just go play every guitar you find in the store until you find one that "just fits". Guitars can't really be judged by price, or by model. All you can do is find what fits in your hands and the sound will come.

I bought my first guitar used from Long and Mcquades about 5-6 years ago for $100, and I wouldn't give it up for the world. I'll defend that acoustic to the death. I've yet to play anything that "just fits" as well as it does with me.

I've got a 1967 Fender Stratocaster(debatable) here, and I don't even like to play it. It just doesn't sound good to me when I play it. Not like the acoustic.

So just do yourself a favor, and play everything you can see until you find something that feels like it just belongs in your arms.

Best guitar for my range??

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